2003 Nissan X-Trail T Spec from UK and Ireland - Comments

Having spent the past few weeks quietly blaming drivers in front of me for creating the very nasty smell of burning oil, you can imagine my horror to find out it was actually coming from underneath the bonnet of my own 2 year old X-Trail T Spec!!!

Having opened the bonnet and peered inside, surprise surprise, oil dribbling down the front of the engine onto the exhaust pipe.

Quick as you like I contacted the dealer where I bought it, and quick as you like they replied "bring it in for one of our tecky's to check it out". That done, the tecky confirmed that the inter-cooler has indeed got a hole in it, a few photo's (evidence) were taken and a date for the offending part to be replace was booked - in 2 weeks!!!

Isn't this a fire hazard said I, yes said the tecky and even the manufacturer has admitted this, I bet not in writing, thought I.

Anyway I now await to hear whether or not this little episode falls under the still live warranty against my car and I get the replacement free of charge. I look forward to a happy ending, unless that is, it catches fire first.

PS - Tecky also mentioned this was not an uncommon problem, but did say that the new inter-cooler would be the modified version.

Here's hoping.

74000 service leak from front of engine needs its 3rd inter-cooler???

We purchased our Nissan x-trail in Nov 05 with 4,000 miles on the clock, after having this vehicle for approx 6 weeks we started to experience problems with the clutch, the x-trail did not want to reverse up a slight incline, we had smoke pouring from under the bonnet and then a terrible smell of burning. 3 times this was taken back to the dealers with the same problem and I was told on each occasion they could find nothing wrong. I do a lot of motor way driving and at times the smell was terrible yet I hardly used the clutch as once on the motorway your are in 6th gear and away. I have now done 17,000 miles and the clutch started slipping badly so again I took it back to be told it was a wear and tear item and if this was the case I had to pay £700 for a new clutch, 3 days later the vehicle broke down and the clutch was burnt out and I had to be recovered by the RAC. Has anyone out there experience any problems with a clutch going at such low mileage or had any of the problems I have mentioned. Everyone I have spoken to have advise me this should not happen and my last car was 8 years old had over 96,000 miles and I never put a clutch in it. Nissan tried to make us pay the £700 as they said it was wear and tear. We also have another problem and that is the satellite navigation system in the 05/06 vehicle doesn't recognise the M6 toll road or a housing estate that has been up for over 8 years, in Preston, we requested this be upgraded and today I was told they had tried the latest one in our vehicle and it would not take the upgrade, my x-trail isn't even 12 months old. The customer service from Nissan is absolutely appalling no-one wants to know about the problems or help resolve them, the service manager is extremely rude to the customers, and so are the sales people on the desk. Has anyone else had this problem with there system? Until all this I loved my X-trail, but doubt I would every buy another one again!

Re: 26 May 2006.

News Update - Car didn't catch fire (thankfully), Inter-cooler was covered by warranty (phew!)

Garage were brilliant, fixed it on time and cleaned the oil off of the engine.

And, I do believe that the fuel consumption has improved slightly.

Stop press - in case you have not heard yet, there is another re-call on the X-trail, something to do with a replacement seal around the fuel filler cap, apparently there have been some on the continent which have developed holes and caused leaks.

Here's hoping that there are no more problems.

Happy X-trail driving.

My X-Trail is Dec 2003, now 27000 miles on clock. I've had the sensor system replaced under the recall, unfortunately it failed the evening before it was booked in to be replaced!

Now I have a different problem, which I think is worse in hot weather. The car starts, but no power, as if it is running under the 'get you home' engine management, but no warning light. This happened about 4 weeks ago, the AA came out, the car started and ran normally for 3 miles, then back onto 'get you home'(GYH). The garage couldn't initially find a fault, but then found something to do with the fuel, and reprogrammed the computer. I then took the car on holiday, 350 miles to the Isle of Mull, no problem. But in the first really hot day it went back onto GYH. However when I stopped and restarted all was fine and it came home on a cooler day on the motorway without a hitch.

Yesterday was hot, started, but no power, no warning light, switched off, restarted, O.K. for 3 miles, then onto GYH, stopped, restarted, O.K. as far as supermarket. After shopping, car starts and runs fine, but now warning light is on!

Warning light still on after car cooled down after sunset. Ring garage tomorrow. Anyone else had this problem?

My x train is under a year old and I am most disappointed by the paintwork which is so easily scratched particularly on the wings bird pooh not wiped of immediatly caused the paint to go right off to the primer and for a car of this price not a very good advert.

I am thinking about buying 2.2dci sve x trail 04////It is a nice driving car, but what about running cost when out of n.a.w////

My x-trail is in the garage at moment for the second time? thick black smoke from rear. it is a 03 reg just over its 3 years. the garage has already replaced the turbo and gaskets, at a big great cost, over a £1500.00. I only had the car back for four days. has any one else had this problem?

I purchased a new X-Trail SVE 2.2 DCI in 2004. At 10,000 miles it had the inter-cooler replaced due to a leak. The car was also recalled to replace the Engine Management Module.

At 12,000 miles the front discs became warped creating a loud shuddering whilst braking from 40MPH or higher. After a long protracted argument with two dealers, who continuously claimed that brakes were a ‘warranty' item and an incident raised with Nissan UK, they conceded and replaced the front discs and pads.

They refused to investigate the problem further. To my increased concern, the rear discs and pads are trashed – metal on metal – at 14,000 miles. Again, an argument ensued over this, with Nissan UK eventually conceding and paying for the replacement rear discs and pads. However, they said this was a ‘goodwill’ gesture which I found wholly unacceptable, this should be fixed and investigated. I have owned Vauxhall, Ford, BMW, Audi, VW, Renault and Porsche: never have I seen a domestic cars discs worn out at 12 – 14,000 miles. If they believe this is normal wear and tear, then the parts, indeed the car is not fit for purpose.

The four-wheel drive on the Xtrail has a drive selector switch. It has three positions – 2 WD – Auto – 4WD Lock. When I first took delivery of the car the ‘Auto’ selection produced no indicator light in the dash: this was normal as according to the owner’s handbook, when in ‘auto’ the car is in two-wheel drive mode, only engaging 4-wheel drive when required due to road conditions. When 4-wheel drive kicks in: when the selector is at ‘auto’, the 4-wheel drive indictor illuminates in the dash.

Now, in my Xtrail the 4-wheel drive indicator is on all the time when in ‘auto’, even at rest. As this is linked into the ABS braking system, it may explain why all four discs have worn out at 14,000 and why the car is consuming a lot of diesel. Amazingly, Nissan UK replied back to my raised concern above with a directive to go and speak with the same dealer whom doesn’t want to know.

I won’t be buying a Nissan again.

Although some people moan about the lack of power in the 2.0 litre petrol engine, it is clearly a better option than these diesels with their incessant leaks, collapses and other faults. Now it has a six speed box I find economy good, around 8l/100 and no problems with leaks, blown this or that. In fact, despite diesel being the current sexy fuel in Europe, I feel it is rubbish in reliabilty for long term ownership far too often.

Bought a new 2.0 X Trail in May 03. At 11,000 miles clutch was squealing when pulling away and was replaced under warranty. At 22,000 miles problem has started again, I don't tow a caravan or anything like that.

Anyone else with a similar problem?

We have had our X trail for just over 6 months and it has 5500 miles on the clock. Straight after purchasing it we noticed a fault with the engine stuttering which Nissan didn't know how to fix. After several months they had figured it out and we had to take it back for it to be corrected. Now however, the clutch has gone. We had a similar problem to another review on this page in that the X-trail struggled to reverse up a small incline and produced lots of smoke and a horrible smell of burning from the clutch. Nissan have refused to pay for the clutch stating it is wear and tear. We will never buy another vehicle from Nissan, the after sales care has been poor and the new vehicle we were so excited about purchasing has been more hassle than its worth.

I own an xtrail 54 plate at 10'000 miles turbo blew ecu was replaced now at 16'000 miles the intercooler is leaking main dealers have replaced under warranty hopeing it will be OK! as warranty runs out soon!

53 plate T spec now on 3rd inter-cooler from new 65k miles, still on the same brake pads (mainly motorway driving), no cluth probs - do tow a caravan.

J.

I've had a 2.2dci SVE X-Trail from new in December 2004.

It needed a new inter-cooler in the first year as this had blown. I was told this was a common problem and it was replaced under warranty.

I also had problems with the clutch, which I was told was completely burned out at about 25,000 miles.

This wasn't covered under warranty as Nissan claimed it was wear and tear which I was surprised at given that I have only towed a small boat on two occasions with the vehicle. This was pretty expensive and has tainted my opinion of Nissan considerably.

I tend to leave the drive system in Auto mode all the time, as I feel a bit safer knowing that the 4x4 will be there if I need it, but I don't want the associated fuel bills from having the 4x4 lock on all the time.

I have begun to wonder if there is a problem with the Auto lock mode for the drive system in the x-trail which is causing the clutch to burn out far too early. There is nothing I can see in the manual for the car that says that you can't run the car in Auto mode permanently, which is why I do.

Do others who have had the clutch burn out early on their x-trail use the Auto option all the time too?

If so, this could be a warranty issue after all.

Cheers.

L.